My Own Version of a Guide to Life

September 27, 2011

I believe I can make it even simpler than Bertran Russel did. I have only three rules to live by.

Be nice to other living beings.

All living creatures are fellow travelers on this planet. Don’t cause unnecessary harm, not even emotional harm, to other beings. Living this rule is more than simply not spitting on strangers and kicking puppies. It’s also necessary to help people out when they need it.

Leave the campground in better condition than you found it.

In this case, the campground is the planet. Earth is the only world we can know of that contains life. We should not only strive not to leave a mess behind us, but should do what we can to clean up some of the mess that was left for us.

Don’t stop growing.

You owe it to yourself to continue to grow intellectually, emotionally, ethically and morally. When you stop growing and becoming, you stagnate and begin to decay. In extreme cases, you can spread rot to those around you.

All human beings should be able to accept these guidelines, although we may argue about how to best follow them. I believe that helping those in need is best accomplished through collective action. If everyone give a little bit, we can do a lot of good. This is why I favor government action to help people. Everyone in the country gives a little, and we can do more good as 330,000,000 people working together than we can as 330,000,000 individuals. With progressive taxation, those with more resources to spare chip in more for the common good than those with fewer resources.